Let me give you the back story...
I like to read (duh, no surprise there) I think I mentioned awhile back that I also tend to "live" in my books...they become very real to me in my imagination and sometimes there are certain books that I literally can not stop thinking about...it's usually the books that are extremely well-written and/or have complex characters and plot lines. It just gets my brain going and it won't stop.
Recently another mom had suggested I read Hunger Games...now, after reading a couple other books recommended by fellow moms, i.e. The Help, Sarah's Key...I had a feeling that I was going to be in for it once again...
What do I mean exactly? Oh, just that I was probably not going to be able to put the book down, I'd think about it constantly and force myself to wash dishes and take a shower because it would be hard to pull myself away...
I was not mistaken...
The series was intense, well-written (except for the last book where the author completely dropped some of the characters and left us hanging) I know that I shouldn't be surprised, but I guess I am still shocked that today's society feels this would be an absolutely appropriate book for young adults (which translates into later elementary school for some families) The content and imaginative graphics were even much for me to handle...As a "thirty-something" I found myself immersed in the storyline...
Being an adult, I was able to recognize myself slipping into that "obsessive" realm and quickly grabbed other books to pull my mind away...
To some, I know that might sound silly...but when you "devour" books like I do...you have to be aware of your own self and tendencies...therefore I wrote THIS post about my girls and how I tend to be a tad overprotective of what they read...for me, there is emotion and experience linked to stories...and therefore, I want to be sure that they read things at the appropriate time for their maturity level:)
Anyhoo...all that to say...I thought I'd write down the books that we girls HAVE been reading or have read in the past...especially since I have such stellar organizational skills and when Little Munchkin grows a bit more, we'll need to revisit these books...
I know that I've already mentioned in the past: Ramona Series (by Bevery Cleary) Trumpet of the Swan & Charlotte's Web (E.B. White), Clementine Series by Sara Pennypacker (LOVED this series)Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series, American Girl Historical Books, Boxcar Children, and the Disney Fairies "novels" :) We've been through many of these and they are great "filler" books for those in between times as well...
Some other great read alouds and independent reads (depending on the reader's level)
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Trulane by: Kate DiCamillo
*beautiful story, very similar to "Hitty, her first hundred years"
Kenny & The Dragon by: Tony DiTerlizzi
*LOVED this book...you can do voices with the characters...fun for boys too
The Myserious Benedict Society by: Trenton Lee Stewart
*just discovered this series...puzzles to solve, really gets your brain working. It reminded me of the idea from XMen with the good versus evil with a plot to take over the world...this is on a MUCH lower level...the "evil" being secret messages coming through the TV:) I really enjoyed it and Sweetpea's reading it now:)
Zoo School by: Laurie Miller Hornick
*Peanut loved this book as an independent read...just fun:)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by: Brian Selznick
*unique...unlike any novel I've read aloud before...
Princess Academy by: Shannon Hale
*one of my favorites...it has a scary scene in it, so Peanut had to wait awhile to read this one, but it's so strong with character development and emphasis on learning...I just loved it!
The Moffets by: Eleanor Estes
*my girls liked this more than I did...just a fun read...older story though...set in 20-30's
The Penderwicks (3 in the series) by: Jeane Birdsall
*favorite series of ours...the 3rd book came out last year I think...we have enjoyed this...it opened discussion about blended families, because the mom has passed and the girls' dad finally remarries...just sweet, realistic, but not "mean" relationships shown...
Peter and the StarCatchers by: Ridley Pearson & Dave Barry
*Sweetpea loved this book...can't say I'd recommend the rest in the series, and if you have grown up loving Peter Pan & Tinkerbell...this is just a new twist:)
Half Magic by: N.M Bodecker & Edward Eager
*Peanut loved this one...this one made us laugh in that the premise is that they have a coin that works half magic...so basically it gives you only HALF of what you wish for...it's tricky how they figure to use it:) Fun book
Harry Potter by: J.K. Rowling (just the first 2 books...we're deciding on #3 for our 4th grader currently???)
*I loved this series because of the author's abilit to write and weave words...however, the content, as the series continues, is one that I am hesitant to expose to my girlies...Peanut does not read these, but we've allowed Sweetpea to read the first 2 so far...Again, goes back to that "obsessive" thing...although evil is a reality, even in our day now...not sure she's ready to handle the depth of it at age 10 in the world of Rowling's created world:) We'll see how it goes as she gets older:)
I know that I have mentioned some of those before, but we just sat at the table quickly before the school bus and put a quick list together of some of our favorites...I'm sure I'll need to add more as they come to mind:)
My youngest Little Munchkin has her own "books" that she likes to listen to currently:) She is listening to the entire series of Mercy Watson by: Kate DiCamillo. I'm not going to say that Ms. DiCamillo is a literary genius, because quite honestly, these books annoy me a tad:) However, I do think that Little Munch likes the fact that she can be like her older sisters and listen to books on CD:) We are also listening to fairy tales, folk tales, etc read by Jim Weiss...if you need some good travel CDs, his are awesome! We love listening to The Lion and the Mouse, Stone Soup, Three Billy Goats Gruff, etc..
We still do lots of picture books with Little Munchkin too, but she's wanting to get into "chapter" books to be like her sisters...so we've discovered lots of Fairy books, Katie Woo, Hopscotch Hill School and others similar to that:)
Currently, all 3 girls are listening to me read The Secret Zoo by Bryan Chick...it was recommended to us by my nephew (who happens to be 8 years old:) If we like it, we have the rest of the series on hold for them to read independently...Then I'm going to peruse Summer of the Monkeys & Cricket in Time Square as options for the next read aloud:)
I think I will always enjoy reading aloud to the girls...I hope they'll let me do it for many years to come!
